//------------------------------//
// From Darkness 
// Story: Darkness To Dust 
// by Nharctic 
//------------------------------//

	From the utter darkness stabbed a blade of blinding light. The Sun seared the sky as it crept above the horizon. The subtle hues of the morning light heralded the blue skies of the shining day.
And it burned. It hurt me, the lances of light stabbing my heart and mind as they always did. I hated it because I had taken so many away from others. But forever would I stand, for I am infinite.
Gathering the black mists about me, I dissolved into a shimmer in the air.



The King of Darkness fell to The Blade of Light, but The Darkness did not waver. The armies of Despair did not weaken, and The Paladin fell. The Paladin’s sacrifice did not go unheeded; from the ashes rose the Order of the Second Age, which beat back the Darkness in the name of The Paladin. Thus began the Second Age.
But The Dark left traces of itself upon the leaders of the Order, and The Discord of the Second Age ascended from the Fourth King of Order. He cast down their great halls from the heavens unto the lands below, and there they fought. As Discord cried victory over Order, nothing came from the ashes to cross blades with him.
But from the memory of times where Order ruled the lands, the Third Order arose, the Order of Harmony. The great Unicorns, Pegasi, and Earth Ponies fought long, but in the end only the Sisters stood against The Discord of the Second Age. They wielded power greater than any of their fellows, and with it the Elements of the Third Age were awakened. They sealed Discord in a prison of stone, and through their efforts they mastered Harmonic magic. 
Their mastery granted them ascension, to wield some of the greatest forces then known: they became the Sisters of Night and Day. The mortal races crowned them as the Princesses of the Third Age, and they endured. They rose from the ashes of the Second Age, and there they sit.
In the end, everything shall return to what it came from: ashes and dust. There is no Good, there is no Evil; there is only Order, Harmony, and Chaos. In the end, not even those matter, because I will always be there when they return to ashes and dust as well.
I am That Which Is Infinite, It That Watches; I am The End of All.



I watched her joy when the one who was as a child to her ascended, and she hoped in her heart that I would not be waiting for her ending. But that was not to be; I would always be there. The Sisters would die someday, and I would be there; I would always be there.
The Discord of the Second Age knew I would always be there; but corruption drove him to try and evade me. He has been forgiven now; his heart is again bright. 



What do you say to those who burned brightly? I stood at the foot of the elder Princesses’ bed, silently watching her in the grey, stormy lights. Her white fur seemed darker, and the flowing rainbow mane hung limp. 
I never did learn what it was one said, for her tired head lifted so she could look me in the eye. In a voice that startled even me, the once ever-calm mare spoke. “I never told her...” 
“Told her what?” I asked calmly. I was still a little shaken, so strange had her voice sounded. Her melodic, calm voice had been replaced by one laden with sadness, despair, and... acceptance?
“I balanced the Sun and Moon by myself for a thousand years... not even Discord could hold them to their cycles, not that he ever would...” she stated, her mane greying.
I would have grimaced but for my lack of a face. “You raised the one in your heart to replace you.”
“Indeed I did.”
This would have happened at some point; I had accepted that she would pass on eventually. But for some reason, I felt it hard to just... end her. A little gust of wind blew from the balcony, and I felt the need to look out over Canterlot of Canterhorn. If any looked, they would have seen a figure from whispers beyond myth. They would have seen a tall, cloaked figure gripping the balcony railing with a human skeleton’s hands. “For some reason, I feel... regret, Celestia.”
She was shocked, as was her right. To her knowledge, I never called a being by their given name. I had never hesitated in my actions, not even when I took the life of that which forged the Sky and Earth. Had I grown attached to these ‘Alicorns’? 
In those silent moments, I felt more eyes upon me. The proclaimed ‘immortals’ that were present had noticed my presence. Perhaps the ancient texts that spoke of me as the Last King came to mind; but whatever they thought, it inspired fear. They were coming.
The shimmering mists of powerful teleports were made obvious to me. Pulling my Scythe from the invisible shadow, I tapped the base of it on the floor. The teleports were blocked with only a flick of my thoughts, for trying to overcome me was like fighting infinity. They could live forever, but I was Infinite; I had always been there, and I always will be here. 
“If it comforts you, those you love and care for are trying to halt me,” I uttered, slowly turning back to the elder Sister of Night and Day.
Her eyes closed in acceptance of fate. “Do it.”
I raised my scythe, the ghostly edge gleaming. It was sharp enough to sever a soul from the body, and that was its purpose. The gates of the afterlife faded into my sight, waiting for her soul to open them.
The door rattled and burst as the younger Sister started working at the enchanted wood. I brought the Scythe down.
With a mighty cleave, I struck...